Choosing a Larger Kit?

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Daragh

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Hi I'm new to brewing and I was checking out a few kits online and a ran into a little dilemma in choosing a lager kit over a beer kits, is there much difference?
If I bought a lager kit eg. Coopers Larger kit. Could I reuse the fermenter for this and use it in brewing other types of beers, which I'm not sure of because it uses a different designed fermenter which as not air lock or openings for larger fermenting. Thanks! :D
 
If you mean lager not larger,then the difference is in temperature control. Lagers need to ferment much cooler than ales.
 
Are you referring to the "Coopers Micro-Brewery - Australian Lager"? As far as I can tell this kit indeed includes an airlock and grommet for the 30L fermenter. You may have to drill the hole and place the grommet yourself. While you can reuse this kit for other beers I have to mention that there a far better starter kits available at the same price point without the bottles or ingredients. A MidWest Supplies kit or a MoreBeer kit will set you up for a better experience and you can find a recipe here on HomeBrewTalk then pick up ingredients at your LHBS. Start with some Ale styles and wait a while before attempting a Lager. Cheers! :)
 
If you mean lager not larger,then the difference is in temperature control. Lagers need to ferment much cooler than ales.

He's clearly indicated he's referring to a Cooper's kit, which uses ale yeast (the "Lager" in the name is pure marketing), and thus does not require temperature control.
 
Daragh said:
Hi I'm new to brewing and I was checking out a few kits online and a ran into a little dilemma in choosing a larger kit over a beer kits, is there much difference?
If I bought a larger kit eg. Coopers Larger kit. Could I reuse the fermenter for this and use it in brewing other types of beers, which I'm not sure of because it uses a different designed fermenter which as not air lock or openings for larger fermenting. Thanks! :D

Hi

I use the Coopers fermenter without airlock (it has the Krausen Kollar) and all my previous 5 brews (well, six but I lost it as I never fixed the tsp properly and soaked my kitchen in bitter trying to fix - my fault not the fermenters :( ) and they've been great, my current brew seems to going great too.
 
Go for the largest kit possible...I kid, I kid.

The Coopers fermenter should work fine for any other beer recipe of a similar batch size. If you have access to other options at a local homebrew shop they can sometimes be cheaper. However, not sure if that's feasible where you are at. Either way, the Coopers fermenter will work just fine.
 
Only the Cooper's OS Lager uses an ale yeast. The rest are true lagers. And the Cooper's DIY style fermenter doesn't use an airlock,but a krausen collar. Also as previously stated,it can be used for any beer you want. Keep in mind that Cooper's cans are intended for 23L,or 6.072 USG. a 5 gallon beer kit will have more head space.
 
According to this thread, all Coopers' kits include ale yeast, except the International Series Bavarian Lager and Brewmaster Selection Pilsener. Still, that surprised me. I was under the impression that all extract kits used ale yeast, even when they say "Lager" on the can. I thought they were aimed at beginners, or at least the casual brewer without a sophisticated setup (such as having a temperature-controlled fermentation chamber), and thus they all use ale yeast.
 
Not exactly true. I bought the heritage lager can for a PM dark beer recipe,& it came with lager yeast. It's part of the Thomas Cooper's Selection. *Just looked at the Aussie Home Brewer link. That waggastew guy claims the heritage lager is a yeast mix of Saflager S189 & ale yeast. I tend not to believe that one as the instructions I got were def lager brewing temps.
 
Thanks guys I think I'll buy a starter kit from a local hbs as appose to the cooper's lager kit seems to be better value.
 
At this point I agree. They had a huge wild fire in AU a while back. Then Cooper's can prices went up. The Thomas Cooper's select Heritage Lager went up to $24.95 per can,their most expensive one at that point. It worked out well in my PM recipe,but it's cost prohibitive to brewing frequently. Darn shame,it was a good beer recipe that several people liked.
 
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